I’m Russian - AMA

[LillyCandC]

I moved here 15 years ago - ask me anything :-)

@justasking111 something similar, especially now after the law has been changed. We tend to use mockery or satire or not speak about certain things via WhatsApp, yes.

Sorry about what Putin’s done to your country 😥

I hear a lot of comments from our media (and on Mumsnet) about hoping that popular opinion in Russia will turn against Putin and that the Russian people will get rid of him. I think people find it hard to imagine what living under a dictatorship. I assume that Putin’s impossible to get rid of unless one of his inner circle decide to replace him? Cos he has all the weapons and soldiers etc?

I suppose what I’m asking is, do the Russian people have any power to influence who leads them and how?

@Dontaskdontget Thank you 🙏 no one knew what it would be like back in the day. People were just happy it wasn’t drunken Eltsin - an embarrassment to the nation, falling over and slurring his words. All election results were falsified anyway.

There’s no solidarity in the society, the country has been bashed by bolsheviks and then by mafia in 90s. There was a little restbite of stability under Putin and I suppose people are just tired. Also during his presidency Putin managed to wipe out the opposition. So people are worried about who’s going to take over after.

What do you think the future holds for Russia and its people? I’ve never even been there, but I feel sad that so much physical and cultural potential is not being realised.

Fuck off Tom. You're talking absolute shit.

@determinedtomakethiswork My British friend (who incidentally lives in Canada but we met in Moscow many years ago) sent me this, you might find this interesting

Лилли, хорошая идея открыть тему :) (кто бы что бы ни говорил). Интересно, сколько еще русских подтянется?

I'm Russian too, living in England for 17 years btw (quarter Ukrainian, quarter Belarussian, in Western Russia more people would be "mixed" with one of the neighbouring nations than non-mixed)

Great thread, thanks for doing it OP.

I have a Russian colleague who married an American and is now an American citizen. She has many family members in Russia, including two relatives who are subject to conscription, whom she is very worried about. When the war started, she was a bit shocked and is now concerned about her family. She's also a bit reluctant to travel back to see them, given her citizenship status now.

I don't really know what to say to her, so we don't talk about the war much.

By the way, I've met some Ukrainian refugees (at an Orthodox church, so them and I already had something in common before they realised I was Russian and they were Ukrainian) and the older woman I talked to had no problems whatsoever with me being Russian, she seemed to be a bit bewildered about the other Ukrainian refugee being a fit man...
Ukrainians I know or had been friendly with before the war haven't changed their attitude to me at all...but then they realise I haven't lived in Russia for a long time and all of us are also British citizens and think of this country as home so it's different...
To be honest I've witnessed far more hatred directed from Eastern Urkainians to Western and vice versa than from Ukrainians to Russians even. I have a friend in Russia who has 7 children and her long term Ukrainian nanny(nearly a member of the family) left with after a massive scandal on a very bitter note because my friend is anti-war, even though my friend never discussed the war in front of her or tried to force her opinion on the nanny. The nanny was obviously from Eastern Ukraine...

Another friend who is half Ukrainian told me that her cousin from Western Ukraine called his aunt in Eastern Ukraine when the war started and promised to send her a head of her son (his cousin) in the post 😵

I also talk to a Western Ukrainian on Instagram who has lived in Britain for 2 years, she left she said due to Nazi elements in her town and she absolutely despises Zelensky but says there is such a cult she cannot admit it to her fellow Ukrainians for fear of being ripped to pieces...
My words are not to provoke anything, it's just a peek behind the curtain to show that not all is black and white.
Whatever the politics of it is, for many many Russians it's viscerally painful and feels fundamentally wrong that any Ukrainians die from a Russian hand, even if it's presented as saving Eastern Ukraine and liberating all of Ukraine from fascism.
But most of older generation and especially away from the capital and St Petersburg isn't on the internet and get all of their information from the state TV channels, if UK had only a few tv channels and it was the only source of information and news in UK, with no access to anything else...how many would question the coverage and exercise critical thinking?

At the start of the war this meme with Gagarin summed up what many/majority of Russians felt, but after months and months of propaganda and perceived hatred from all over the world I don’t know if it’s felt as much…

What do Russians think generally about Alexei Navalny? I've been following his story since he was poisoned and it's harrowing. Do you think they'll let him out before he dies out in that Siberian labour camp?

Hmm there's a Russian mum at our school who definitely supports putin. Not convinced by your answers unfortunately.

Do you remember the first McDonald’s opening and did you join the masses? I was there shortly afterwards and people were still queuing round the block!

Also, I remember some of the subway stations being like works of art, are they still like that?

Why don't the Russian people get rid of Putin?

Surely they can't be happy about the sanctions from the West and the position the he has put them.

@brilliantred there always are going to be outliers. I know a British communist.

@DorothyBaker thats interesting! the experience of each individual is always going be unique. I know nothing about Ukrainian politics.

@Mañanarama in fact I do! I didn’t join the first queue but I remember queuing around the block! Ha, thanks for that unlocked memory.

yes, the subway is gorgeous.

What Russian laws/traditions do you think are beneficial and should be introduced in other countries?

@Charlize43 because it’s not as easy as one might think. For the last 2 decades life in Russia was finally more or less stable and predictable. Anyone who goes out protesting is risking a jail sentence but also beating. Mothers and wives would actively try and stop their sons (mothers are also older generation, who predominantly watches state TV, who grew up during crazy 90s staying alive by keeping their heads down). The narrative of the war is obviously different from our perspective here and Russian side. People are told that the sanctions are a wicked way the west tries to break Russian spirit but Russia will be fine without the West. State propaganda tells people that Russian troops are there to save Ukrainians (western) from Nazi’s and hatred towards Russian speaking population by pure Ukrainians. Now, if you wonder if any this is as delusional as it sounds - it is. But also look at what @DorothyBaker wrote. Also, people are
worried who’s going to take power after Putin? Putin spend his whole time completely eradicating opposition and believe me, there are people who are even scarier than Putin in his inner circle.

@Charlize43 i guess what I’m trying to say, Russian state media twists the facts to suit its own agenda and narrative. For the last 15 years that I was here I knew nothing about Ukrainian politics, it wasn’t covered in the news here, I never heard of Azov battalion, I never heard of hatred towards western Russian speaking Ukrainians. It’s all politics though, you might argue, had not Putin annexed Crimea things would have been different. Was there hatred crime towards Russians in Ukraine? Yes, there was. Does it warrant a full blown invasion and war? Absolutely not. You see people being racist here towards, say, Pakistani, you wouldn’t expect Pakistan to invade Britain to “save their people”. However, these facts might be easily twisted by state propaganda machine to make Russia appear on the “good side”. So there’s no unity. People are afraid and confused.

@Rainbowqueeen ha, it’s a good question. maybe not keeping washing machine in the kitchen? Only joking. I quite like English culture, to be honest, I prefer to live in accordance with English traditions.

You're just digging a massive hole here... YOU are the feckless population. Your opinions are vile, the absolute arrogance to voice them on a site for mums!

Its just the mums fault? For their choice of partner???not the deadbeat dads or those who are abusive and neglectful to thier partners and their own children? ; they are allowed to claim, I suppose?

I really hope females vet you carefully as a mate. You would be a fecking nightmare.

I have a neuro diverse condition ... How dare you refer to people as 'dicky back'? FYI I have always worked.

You're presenting yourself as an expert on Russian female choices and breeding habits based on the fact that you lived there for a bit and got some free ale.

Your statements are sweeping and condescending, and you are talking absolute shite.

@HerReputationMadeItDifficultToProceed good question. My knowledge is that he tried to create opposition party (like Gary Casparov) but was wrongly accused and locked up. As long as Putin is in power, I don’t think Navalny is getting anywhere. I also don’t know anyone who’d support Navalny as president. Russian politics is very dirty and very corrupt, so I don’t believe any sane person would want anything to do with it. So we’re stuck with power crazed sociopaths.

Where do you keep the washing machine in Russia ? In the bathroom, like Germans do?
Thanks for this thread, I liked hearing about your new year traditions.

Thanks OP for the thread.

Sadly derailed by someone incredibly tone deaf.

Mum of a neurodiverse teenager here who attends special school - really appalled at the condescension towards disabled people and single parents from Tom.

WTAF is 'fully autistic'?!?
Unbelievable to accuse disabled people of 'dicky backing' ( whatever that is) on other conditions to avoid working.

I work full time, as does my husband and we are trying our hardest to help make the future better for kids like our son towards independence. Hopefully the workplace will be more accommodating to his type of profile on the future.
Many of his peers though at special school will not be employable - they have every right to live happy and fulfilled lives with state support. I wonder where on your imaginary continuum of Autism and sufficient levels of disability they might fall.

These are real human beings on here in this site affected by ignorance like yours.

I hope you are re educated at some point

@DorothyBaker думаю, не много )) интересное видео, спасибо! Мне кажется, оно многое объясняет, но опять же для нашего менталитета.